Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 531 Main Battlefield

Corpses floated on the Hutuo River from time to time.

The Tang and Yan armies had been fighting here for three days, turning the mud along the river into a bloody red.

On the surface, Shi Siming's command was very good this time. Facing the offensives of the two famous generals Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi, he not only did not lose the upper hand, but also often forced the Tang army to withdraw its troops.

If the Tang army had not deployed a lot of gunpowder on the front line and inflicted heavy losses on the Yan army several times, it is unknown whether he might have won a great victory.

But in fact, the news that Feng Changqing had broken through Xiongwu City had already arrived. Shi Siming knew privately that although the Tang army was ready for a decisive battle, they were not willing to suffer casualties at all. Their purpose was to deliberately tie down his main force here and wait for a two-pronged attack.

He was extremely anxious in his heart, but he remained calm on the surface.

The situation is bad, but not completely hopeless.

You can create a time difference.

The generals of the Tang army now thought that their plan was successful, waiting for Feng Changqing to attack from both sides. But if Shi Siming had dealt a fatal blow to the Tang army before that, they would have been able to catch them by surprise and survive.

His killer move was the Khitan reinforcements.

This was an unexpected force for the Tang army, and they had already crossed the Hutuo River in the lower reaches.

"—"

On the south bank of the Hutuo River, Li Huaixiu reined in his horse and waited for the report from the scouts ahead.

He actually hated being called by his Chinese name "Li Huaixiu". His real name was Di Nian Zuli, and the Chinese name was just a temporary compromise he made up in order to please the Tang Lord.

Later, he killed the princess, rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, and fought with An Lushan many times, with both sides winning and losing. After that, he defeated An Lushan at Tuhuzhen River and made the Tang army flee in disarray.

In his opinion, if a mediocre general like An Lushan could capture Luoyang and almost destroy the Tang Dynasty, then he should be able to do it too, but the Khitan was still weak and needed to seek opportunities to grow stronger.

Accepting Shi Siming's generous gift and helping him weaken the Tang court was a good strategy.

Khitan will surely rise, this is his lifelong ambition.

"Khan!"

A scout in front ran back and reported: "The Tang army camp is ten miles away. The 'Prince of Yong' flag is erected in the camp. The Tang army scouts have also spotted us."

Li Huaixiu asked: "How is the war between Tang and Yan going?"

"The battle is still going on in Hutuo River, all main forces are out!"

After obtaining all the information, Li Huaixiu immediately ordered an attack.

The Khitan cavalry did not bring any baggage along the way. They were first supplied by Shi Siming, and then they looted supplies with their bows and swords. However, they brought a lot of horses, almost four horses per person, and they marched at full speed at an extremely fast speed.

The strategic goal was also very simple, either to attack the front and back of the main force of the Tang army, or to destroy the Tang army's camp, capture their King Yong, and burn their supplies. In any case, their main force would collapse.

The horse galloped at full speed, and the earth was shaking.

~~
The Tang army now has two camps, one on the south bank of the Hutuo River, called the South Camp, and the other is the North Camp, separated by a pontoon bridge.

This was originally an unfavorable terrain. Every day, both the offensive and the retreating troops had to cross the river, making it easy to be attacked halfway across the river, and transporting supplies was also troublesome.

However, the two camps controlled the Hutuo River, cut off the battlefield, restricted many tactical uses of the Fanyang cavalry, and attracted Shi Siming to fight them every day. Every time they withdrew their troops, the rebels could not encircle them from both sides.

If the rebels wanted to attack by wading, they had to dismount and be attacked by the Tang army in the camp with stone cannons and arrows.

Shi Siming actually also tried to win by using terrain. He ordered people to block the Hutuo River upstream and try to release the water to rush into the Tang army camp, but before he arrived, he encountered an ambush.

He also ordered his people to build many small boats, fill them with straw and set them on fire, and sail down the river, hoping to destroy the Tang army's pontoon bridge and cut off the mutual support between the two camps. As a result, Li Guangbi led his soldiers to make iron forks with hundred-foot-long poles to resist the rebels' fireboats.

This day, South Camp.

Xue Bai did not follow the troops to command the battle, but stayed in the camp to arrange logistics and comfort the wounded.

Although he did not suck the wounds of the wounded like Wu Qi did, his actions in this Northern Expedition also won the hearts of many people in the army.

This was all he could do. Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi did not want him to achieve greater military exploits in case his reputation could not be shaken. Xue Bai also knew how to stop while he was ahead.

He had just spoken to a wounded soldier, and when he turned around, he saw Hun Yu with a sneer on his face. So he asked after he left the camp, "What's wrong? Why are you laughing?"

"I laugh at Prince Yong for being too scheming in his quest for power." Hun Yu was honest.

Xue Bai did not take it as an offense and said, "I am not false and I have no shame to the heaven and earth."

"But if Prince Yong wants to be loyal and filial, he should repay the emperor." Hun Yu said, "The sage has redressed your injustice and raised you as his adopted son. How can you bear to seize the crown prince's position? Isn't that disloyal and unfilial?"

It's rare to find someone as straightforward as him.

Xue Bai then laughed at him for being so naive.

Xue Bai was too lazy to reason with this 19-year-old boy, and asked, "I was just visiting the wounded, but you framed me based on hearsay. You questioned my loyalty without any evidence, which is the act of a treacherous villain."

Hun Yu said: "But Prince Yong came from Luoyang to Xiangzhou and killed the envoy without authorization. Everyone knows what Sima Zhao is up to."

It turned out that he hadn't figured out the matter of Huo Xianliang yet.

Xue Baisui said, "So you are just like Huo Xianliang, you like to wrongly accuse loyal ministers and generals. It's because there are too many people like you surrounding the saint and slandering him that I was accused of plotting to usurp the throne."

"I'm not!" Hun Yu said, "You keep saying 'progress and progress' all day long. I know exactly what you're thinking!"

"Advancement is not the same as advancement. You keep saying that I am guilty of treason. Do you have any evidence?"

Hun Yu was unable to win the argument and said, "How can there be any real evidence? I am just feeling aggrieved and trying to persuade the King of Yong."

"Report!"

At this moment, a scout came running back from outside the camp.

"Report! Ten miles to the east, a large group of enemy cavalry has been spotted! Over ten thousand horses!"

Although Hun Yu had just questioned Xue Bai, he was the first to step forward and put on a protective attitude.

"Prince Yong, there are few soldiers in the camp. Should we ask the general to withdraw his troops and come back for reinforcements immediately?"

"Pass the news to Guo Situ and ask him to make the decision."

Xue Bai was not anxious and just put his safety in the hands of Guo Ziyi.

If Guo Ziyi can send troops, he can do so. If the war is urgent, Xue Bai will have to resist alone.

~~
On that day, the Yan army's offensive on the battlefield was particularly fierce.

Shi Siming took advantage of his large number of soldiers and horses and sent out cavalry to attack the flank of the Tang army as soon as the war broke out, forcing the Tang army to shrink its formation and unable to change its formation in time.

At first, this purpose was not obvious.

But when the Khitan cavalry suddenly attacked, the Tang army hurriedly deployed the rear troops to form a battle array to resist, and a gap appeared in the formation.

"kill!"

On the battlefield, Shi Siming saw the opportunity and beat the drum himself.

The Yan army quickly waved its flags, and all its elite troops were sent out, vowing to decide the outcome today.

The Tang army originally wanted to drag out the battle for a few more days, waiting for Feng Changqing to capture Fanyang before coming to support. They were a bit conservative in tactics, and suddenly faced with the full-scale attack of the Yan army, they were somewhat at a loss.

From afar, the Hutuo River looked like a belt, and the Tang soldiers gathered on the north bank like ants, and were completely surrounded by the Yan army.

The Tang army's tactics had a fatal danger, that was fighting with their backs to the river. Once they lost, there would be no way to retreat and they would be killed one by one into the river, causing great panic and resulting in heavy casualties.

It was at this time that the Khitan troops arrived.

They let out sharp whistling sounds, raising a cloud of dust, and deliberately created a huge noise.

On the battlefield, Xue Zhan, his face covered in blood, turned around and was immediately shocked. He quickly shouted in the direction of Li Siye: "General!"

"do not make noise!"

Li Siye looked back and saw the dust behind him.

But the drumbeats of the central army became more intense, and Li Guangbi waved his flag, urging them to move forward.

The most feared thing in war is the change of the army's morale, so he immediately stopped Xue Zhan's shouting and shouted: "Reinforcements are coming, follow me to kill the enemy!"

Xue Zhan was not afraid, but was worried that the enemy cavalry would rush to the South Camp and would be disadvantageous to Xue Bai, so he rushed to Li Siye in the melee and wanted to express his concerns.

However, Li Siye actually moved forward, dismounted his horse and stood at the front of the formation.

"General."

Xue Zhan had no choice but to squeeze through his comrades and approach Li Siye. In the chaos of the battle, he said, "General, I have military intelligence..."

"No disturbance in the ranks!" Li Siye shouted angrily, his mouth spitting, and raised his sword, "Kill!"

"kill!"

At the front of the formation, Li Siye ran a few steps forward and slashed with his sword, killing a rebel along with his horse.

Xue Zhan didn't have time to say anything about what happened outside the battlefield. He was already moving forward, killing the enemy. He felt like he was in a rushing river, and could only move forward with the flow.

This is morale, this is the military formation, no one can be distracted, and there is no time to be distracted. A strong general leads the army, and the only thing he can do is to move forward and crush everything.

After Xue Zhan chopped several people in a row, he felt that his knuckles were about to crack, and then he was replaced by his comrades in the back row. He turned his head and found that he had advanced nearly a hundred steps without realizing it.

He couldn't see what was happening on the other side of the river because of the military formation, so he focused on the enemy in front of him.

~~
"King Yong!"

The messenger ran to Xue Bai and said, "Minister Guo, please tell Prince Yong that if the enemy troops break into the camp and the army collapses, the consequences will be disastrous."

"understood."

Previously, the war was going smoothly, and Guo Ziyi deliberately did not give Xue Bai the opportunity to make merit. Now that the war is not going well, Xue Bai has to bear the pressure instead.

If it were someone else, they would inevitably complain.

Xue Bai knew, however, that the more he wanted to achieve great things, the greater his responsibility would be.

At this time, the enemy cavalry had approached to within five miles, and the scouts reported that they were Khitan cavalry.

Xue Bai thought for a moment, then immediately gave the order: "Raise our banner and march out of the camp to meet the enemy!"

"Prince Yong." Hun Yu hurriedly advised, "The troops in the camp cannot rush to fight the enemy. Please, Prince Yong, stay in the camp and defend it."

This is treating Xue Bai as someone who has never been to the battlefield and acts impulsively.

"Follow my military orders!"

Xue Bai shouted sternly, then said: "The people coming are Khitans. We didn't know their whereabouts before, which shows that they are not able to get intelligence on our army. If I defend the camp, they will know my military strength, and I will have to go out of the camp to fight, which will make them feel guilty."

Hun Yu then realized that Xue Bai had some considerations in mind and was not just acting rashly.

"The main force of the army is at a critical moment of the decisive battle. Once the Khitan soldiers attack the floating bridge, our army will be defeated. Only by going out of the camp to fight can we prevent the army from being defeated." Xue Bai said, "I am determined to die, and he is hired. The stronger I am, the weaker he will be. How can I avoid the battle?!"

He walked as he spoke, and when he finished, he had arrived at the stable, put on his helmet, and climbed on his horse.

Soon, a half-rolled flag appeared out of the gate.

More than a thousand Tang troops who were hastily assembled headed towards the Khitan cavalry in the distance.

~~
"boom!"

Suddenly an explosion sounded ahead.

Many of the galloping war horses were frightened and raised their front hooves high. If it weren't for the Khitans who were good riders, they would have been thrown off and killed.

But even if these knights managed to steady their horses, their comrades running from behind still bumped into them.

"what happened?"

"The one in front was struck to death by thunder..."

The Khitan cavalry finally stopped their charge.

Li Huaixiu pulled the reins, listened to the report from the cavalry returning from the front, and quickly understood what was going on.

Before he went to war, he heard from Shi Siming that the Tang army had gunpowder, which was very powerful. It was made by Xue Bai, and Xue Bai used a lot of it when An Lushan started his rebellion. After that, due to the continuous wars, the canal transportation was blocked, and more gunpowder was used, but the raw materials were scarce. In addition, everyone was familiar with it, so although it made a loud noise, the casualties it caused were limited, so there was no need to be afraid.

But it was one thing for Shi Siming to say there was no need to be afraid, but it was the first time that Li Huaixiu had encountered Khitan soldiers, so how could he just say he was not afraid?

Some people are already praying to heaven, asking God for forgiveness.

Li Huaixiu was squinting his eyes, trying to see clearly what was happening in front of him.

He saw the dust and smoke, and then saw a big flag coming towards him. That person was Xue Bai, who was quite famous in the Tang Dynasty, and he had heard of his fame for a long time.

He thought he was launching a surprise attack on the Tang army camp, but the Tang army came to kill him instead. He was a little surprised. The first thing he thought in his mind was, was I ambushed?
At the same time, Xue Bai was using a telescope to scan the Khitan formation. In fact, there was no formation. Because of the explosives suddenly thrown by the Tang army, the Khitan army was now in a somewhat chaotic state.

Moreover, almost none of these Khitan cavalrymen wore iron armor, only a small amount of leather armor.

"Hun Yu, do you dare to charge?"

Xue Baisui asked. This was not a military order. In the sudden encounter, he was also estimating the strength of both sides.

"Here!"

Hun Yu, however, took the order directly, called over his two hundred cavalrymen, and charged directly at the Khitan soldiers.

He was very fast, and soon he rushed into the distance of the Khitans within an arrow's reach. Arrows were shot from the front, and he was wearing iron armor, lowered his head, and used his shield to protect his horse, and the sound of clanging could be heard.

Not caring about anything else at this moment, he bent down, clamped his horse, held the spear tightly with his other hand, and quickly rushed into the Khitan army formation.

The Khitans did not dare to confront him at all, relying on their good riding skills to disperse. The two hundred riders rushed in like sharp arrows, stabbing out with long weapons, stabbing the Khitans to death one by one before they could escape.

In the blink of an eye, Hun Yu had rushed dozens of steps into the enemy camp. A Khitan general did not expect that the warrior standing in front of him suddenly disappeared. Before he could ride away on his horse, he was knocked unconscious by the shield thrown by Hun Yu and was captured on his horse.

"it is good!"

Hun Yu held the enemy general like a sheep, then rode back on his horse, drawing cheers from the Tang army soldiers.

Thousands of Khitan warriors who were skilled in riding and shooting had not yet reacted when they saw such a young general capture a great general alive in their ranks.

Even Li Huaixiu was stunned and asked, "Who is that?"

He couldn't help but ride his horse forward to see Hun Yu's flag with his own eyes, and was surprised that the figure under the flag was so young.

This made him feel almost hopeless and powerless, and he felt that God was blessing the Tang Dynasty, and capable ministers and famous generals were passed down from generation to generation without interruption. Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi were not old, Feng Changqing and Li Siye were in their prime, and young people like Hun Yu became famous in one battle today.

"Invincible! Invincible!"

Amid the cheers of the Tang army, Hun Yu swayed slightly on his horse's back, threw the Khitan general in front of Xue Baima, and shouted, "I have fulfilled my mission!"

He never felt that he was King Yong's man.

But when he made great contributions under the command of King Yong, the gratitude and closeness he felt were indescribable. He even grinned, showing the respect and love he had for his father and brother.

"Drum roll!"

Xue Bai did not hesitate for a moment, seized the opportunity created by Hun Yu, and ordered: "Charge."

Drums sounded loudly, and a thousand Tang soldiers launched an attack before the Khitans could see how many troops they had.

Listening to the drumbeats, Li Huaixiu's face became gloomy.

He led his people into the Tang Dynasty because Shi Siming borrowed troops from him and promised him a generous reward. He also wanted to take this opportunity to plunder, but he didn't expect to encounter a tough opponent as soon as he crossed the river.

So... is it a fight? Is it a retreat?

~~
On the high battlefield, Shi Siming narrowed his eyes, trying hard to see the situation on the other side of Qinghe River.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see with his naked eyes, so he could only keep urging the sentinels to bring back the news.

"Hurry up, hurry up."

He rubbed his hands unconsciously, muttering to himself, "Li Huaixiu is such a loser, can't we strike him in the stomach and back now?"

From time to time, his eyes would fall on the main battlefield, where the fighting was in full swing. Today, the fighting had already reached evening, and the Tang army had not retreated yet because they dared not to.

Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi both knew that if they called back the troops now, it would likely lead to a rout.

But if the fight continues like this, it's still unclear who will win...

"His Majesty."

When Shi Siming heard the shout, he turned around and saw a dusty messenger running onto the stage, and he knelt down immediately.

The soft "bang" sound was the sound of the knees hitting the ground, and it also seemed to hit Shi Siming's heart.

This kneeling probably brought bad news.

"Your Majesty, Yanjing has been lost."

"what?"

"Yanjing has fallen, Feng Changqing..."

"You are a spy sent by Guo Ziyi to disrupt the morale of my army."

Before the messenger could finish speaking, Shi Siming grabbed his throat and strangled him hard.

The messenger was speechless and struggled hard. His face turned purple and his pupils dilated, reflecting Shi Siming's hideous face, which became more and more hideous.

On the battlefield, many people fell in pools of blood with every breath, and on the battlefield, Shi Siming took several breaths to strangle a person to death.

He loosened his hand, but his eyelids were twitching violently.

The one who stayed behind in Fan Yang was his crown prince, his favorite son. The reason why he liked Shi Chaoqing the most was because Shi Chaoqing was like him, good at riding and shooting, and acted decisively and ruthlessly.

Anyone who can accomplish great things must be ruthless, so he thought that Shi Chaoqing would be his most promising son.

How could Fan Yang be lost?
"Your Majesty, another messenger has arrived from the north."

Shi Siming turned his back and did not respond to the question, seeming to be watching the battle very seriously. In fact, his eyes were not focused at all, and he could not see the tens of thousands of ants fighting bloody battles for him.

He was thinking, what should he do?
We can lose the battle today, but we must not lose Fan Yang… If Fan Yang has been lost, then Pingzhou and Yingzhou must not be lost.

Shi Siming started out as the military commander of Pinglu, and he knew very well that the Pinglu Army was his foundation. Assuming that the fall of Yanjing was true, he would have to rush back to Yingzhou with his cavalry as quickly as possible and wait for an opportunity to make a comeback.

The one guarding Yingzhou now is Zhang Zhizhong, who is loyal to An Lushan. Shi Siming only used him temporarily, intending to deal with him after taking Chang'an, but now he has become a residual problem. If Zhang Zhizhong also surrenders to the Tang army, it will be troublesome.

"His Majesty."

Ashina Chengqing walked onto the battlefield and whispered, "It has been confirmed that Yanjing has been lost. Your Majesty, would you like to see a few more messengers?"

"Call him." Shi Siming had calmed down, at least on the surface.

He no longer expected to win today. He only hoped to block the news and hold out until dark, neither winning nor losing or suffering a minor defeat, and then withdraw his troops overnight.

Soon, messengers came one after another to report to Shi Siming what had happened in Fanyang City.

Finally, someone said, "Before I fled from Yanjing, I heard something else."

"explain."

"I heard that the Crown Prince and several other princes were killed by the Tang army."

Shi Siming was in a trance for a moment, and asked himself in his heart, "Have I lost my descendants?"

He suddenly remembered that his only daughter had been captured by the Tang army.

He paid too much to start an uprising. He went from a lowly Hu man, and survived many dangers to become a local lord and King Guiyi. But after he started a rebellion against the Tang Dynasty, he ended up like this?
Regret?
"I don't regret it." Shi Siming murmured to himself.

If all the children die, they can be reborn; if the soldiers are exhausted, they can be recruited again, as long as the people are still there.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

The sharp whistle once again shattered Shi Siming's ambitions.

A worse piece of news fell into his ears like thunder, but he should have thought of it just now.

"To the north... the Tang army is coming from the north!"

~~
A pair of angry eyes were looking down at the army that was getting closer and closer.

The expression on Shi Chaoqing's face was as ferocious as that of a ghost.

He shook his head, which was hundreds of feet high, and floated over the battlefield where blood was flowing like a river. The corners of his twisted mouth seemed to be cursing something.

In other words, he was hung on a high pole and held by a Tang rider, running wildly.

"Fan Yang has been conquered! Shi Chaoqing is dead!"

The sound was followed by the military music of the Tang army, which let the rebels know from afar that the royal army was coming from the north.

Feng Changqing was afraid that he would not be able to defeat the rebels' morale in the first place, so he ordered his soldiers to play music along the way.

So this vanguard army looked extremely strange, with heads hanging high like banners and passionate music, and it rushed to the point where it was within an arrow's reach of the Yan army's rear formation.

It seemed as if Shi Chaoqing's glare caused the Yan army to collapse.

In an instant, the Yan army dispersed to the north like flowing water.

"call--"

Li Siye swung his Mo Dao down, but missed the target the first time.

He looked up and saw the backs of many enemies.

Immediately afterwards, a rapid horn sounded, and the central army's flag waved again, urging the army to pursue.

Their commander knew that Feng Changqing was blocking the way in the north. If Shi Siming escaped again, it would not be a complete victory no matter how many people they killed.

"Chase! All in one go!"

"Pass the order down, Shi Siming must not be allowed to escape!"

Xue Zhan was already exhausted, but upon hearing this, he suddenly felt a surge of energy from somewhere and rushed forward without hesitation.

He was so envious of Hun Yu's military achievements. They were the same age, and he was determined to catch up with Hun Yu.

"Chase!"

At the same time, Hun Yu had also changed his warhorse and was galloping at full speed, chasing the flag of the Khitan Khan.

His armor was too heavy and he gradually fell behind, watching the Khitans wading away into the water.

However, when a deafening noise came from the north bank, he turned around and could not help but be overjoyed and shouted immediately.

"Stop the Khitan Khan!"

(End of this chapter)